by Chris Hechtl
“That's one...”
One after another, then in twos and sometimes threes Creeplings came out of the trash. Shane was surprised by the numbers. Not all of them were Creeplings though, a few were Gremlins. Well, some of the smaller things may have been Creeplings, by the time they had gotten out of the flames their wings were tattered or just gone so he couldn't tell for sure.
“Let the fire burn itself out,” he said turning. “Any more?” he asked Barry.
Barry was grinning ear to ear. He was sweating profusely and not just because it was in the 80's out. That fire had been intense. “Now that you mention it, a few up the street. I think we've got the gist so we can handle those on our own. Can you do something about the ones that got inside? Fire is not an option though.”
“Oh there is fire and then there is fire,” Shane said turning back to the dying flames. “Stick a flame or smoke on one end and they'll run for another exit. Have something on the other side and you turn that area into a kill zone.”
Wayne was nearby. He turned and looked thoughtful. “You're talking about driving them right?”
“Right. But you've got to have a plan.” He turned to Barry. “Let's go see what you've got first. If they are predators then it’s worth digging them out. But if they aren't, it might be easier to put up with them or just chase them out and conserve your resources,” he explained.
Barry frowned and then reluctantly nodded. He looked around. Most of the crowd had cheered like mad when the aliens had been put down. Some were going over to the smoldering carcasses and cutting them up with fire axes and bats. He winced.
“It's cathartic. Let them have their vengeance. But guide it,” Shane said softly. Barry looked at him. “You can't stop them; if you do you'll just get in the way and make enemies. Believe me, I tried the other day and it didn't go over well for some. Best to give them purpose. One that combines both urges is best,” he said.
“Okay,” Barry said. “It's ah, this way,” he waved to the door.
...*...*...*...*...
Tater grinned at Bobby as he fairly strutted over to him. “Dude did you see the flames on that thing! I think I lost my eyebrows!” he said rubbing his forehead.
“No, still there. Big and bushy mono brow as usual,” Bobby said with a shrug and not quite grin.
“Funny,” Tater said, taking a sip of water then using more of it to wash his face and neck. He felt dehydrated, which he probably was after that.
“I got it on tape from my end,” a guy said holding up his camera phone.
“Me too!” Tater said looking up and grinning. He capped the water and pulled out a phone and held it up. “We've got to compare footage. Too bad YouTube is down. Instant hit man. Instant!”
“Probably,” Bobby said shaking his head.
“What's the boss doing?” Tater asked.
“Finding more work for us probably,” Bobby said with a scowl.
“No worries man. If it's killing aliens like that, its worth the effort.”
Bobby frowned a bit. He was about to make a retort but swallowed it when he saw a little kid walk over to an alien carcass and kick it. A guy nearby was pissing on another, putting out the flames. He shook his head. He looked away and right into the faces of a few others, some had tears running down their faces. His jaw set. “Yeah, worth it,” he muttered quietly.
...*...*...*...*...
“So you don't have any heavy weapons?” Derrick asked tiredly.
Shane frowned. “No. None that we can give up. I can however show you how to improvise some weapons with what you've got on hand or from stuff you can get close by.”
“Um...”
“Things like flame throwers.”
Derrick looked at the others as they stared. Slowly he smiled, remembering that BBQ from a few moments ago. “Okay, I'm following you.”
“And it only takes a propane tank, some hose, a couple of fittings, a pilot light and nerves to do it,” Shane said. “I can also set you up with the plans for Fougasse cannons.”
“Now that's what I'm talking about! Tiamen said eyes wide. “You said you don't have any heavy weapons though!”
“No, I'm not giving them to you; I'm going to show you how to make them. And they aren't weapons you run around with. Well, I suppose you could mount them on a truck or something... “ He looked thoughtful until Derrick cleared his throat.
“Oh yes, um, okay, take a fifty-five gallon barrel, cut the top off and stick it on a slant.” He used his hands to describe what he was talking about. “Stick some gas and anything flammable at the bottom. Stuff that explodes in a whoosh. Run an ignitor to it, and then pack shrapnel on top and a bit more flammable stuff. When you set it off the walls of the barrel act as the cannon.”
“So it...” Barry asked.
“Spews flames and shrapnel into the face of any alien dumb enough to face it. Instant bad day. Or night.” He shrugged. “We've got work crews setting them up all over the mall perimeter. We tested it late last night, works great. Make a very nice and nasty flare at night.”
“Oh.”
“I can see if I can send you a crew, or better yet you can send some people over to us. We'll show them how to set up your own. Same for the flame throwers. Even a wall of fire is enough to get most of the animals to back off. Primitive but effective.”
“Cool,” Derrick said, nodding to the others.
“If you could do an inventory on what you've got here, we can see if we can put it to use. Trading for it of course.”
“Um... okay.”
“I think we need to get the economy going again. At least on a barter basis. That will shut down any people who complain about hand outs and commies.” He shook his head and pursed his lips in disgust. “I've got enough whiners pissing and moaning about that as it is. They don't like my open door policy and it's testing my patience.”
“I think they'll learn.”
“The economy is a good idea,” Derrick said slowly.
“I'm not happy about the wise ass who labeled me a commie. I'm trying to keep as many people alive as I can. It's not like the aliens care if we're Republican, Democrat, Capitalist, or Socialist.”
“True,” Derrick said, looking at Tiamen.
The tall Chinese guy spread his hands. “Hey man, third generation Californian. My people were here before you were dude. They were making the railroads.”
“Probably,” Shane said with a snort. “If you've got some paper and a map of the area I can work with you on what you can do to help your defenses. And give you a list of stuff we're hurting for, and stuff we're willing to trade.”
“Okay.”
“I don't have a lot of time, but I can send someone over to talk details later.”
“Can we get walkie talkies too? We've got a few from the security people, but not enough. Not nearly enough. And we don't have power to charge them.”
Shane looked at the woman with them. Derrick and the others hadn't introduced her. He shrugged. “Yes. We've got some kids ones that are short ranged. Not good for much since we're all over town but it should work here or indoors. Or if you can find the nearest cell tower you can try to fix it and use that.”
“Really? But the networks are down!” she said. She looked at the others. “And no power!”
“True, but there are hacks and ways around it. I'll see if Gabe can print out a worksheet for you.”
“We don't have power.”
“That can be arranged. Finding some solar panels from roof tops will help.” They were now pulling every solar panel they could find. Even solar water heaters for pools were being brought in.
“Drop in the bucket,” Tiamen said with a sniff.
“It's a start. A journey starts with a signal step.”
Tiamen looked thoughtful. “True.”
“We're working on making generators. They are crude, but I think they'll work. I'll see if we can trade you one.” Walt's crew had gotten the first one done yesterday after a lot of griping. It di
dn't look pretty, but now that they had the idea they were working on cleaning up the design.
“Well, we've got tons of crap to trade with,” the woman said with a sniff. “Can we get some home improvement stuff? We've got porta potties and well...” she shrugged.
“The bathrooms are overflowing?”
“Not to mention the bushes outside are turning yellow,” she gave the guys a dirty look. They smirked. “We also need sinks and appliances. We're using the restaurant facilities, but well...”
“They aren't enough?”
“No.”
“I'll look into it. At the very least I'll see if we can find one of the trucks that are used to clean out the porta potties. That will make them useable again.”
“Do you have any idea about the water and gas?”
“Um... I've got people shutting off the utilities in areas we've cleared out. I don't want any accidents and I don't want to waste what's in the system. For as long as it lasts.”
“Oh.”
“I suggest, and this is just a suggestion,” he held up a hand. “I suggest that you hook up water containers and other things and draw off as much water as you can. Find a water truck and fill it. Find others. Fill big containers, little containers, anything. If you can, get some people to make you cisterns on the roofs and get someone to rig gutters to collect rain water.”
“Oh.” Derrick nodded and made a note.
“Well, it's a start,” Shannon said.
“Take it one step at a time. Break them down into small steps if you can. That's how I've learned to do it. And find good people to delegate it to. An architect or a contractor to handle the home improvement stuff for instance.”
“True, thanks for that.”
“No one has had contact with the base?” Derrick asked.
“I was about to ask you,” Shane sighed. “Guess that answers one of my burning questions.”
“We send a couple of people over there every day. They just turn us away like everyone else. There are fewer and fewer people every day.”
“Ouch.”
“They shot in the air when the crowd got unruly. We booked,” Tiamen said in disgust. “I don't know what their problem is.”
“I think they were ordered to lock down, secure their perimeter and await orders,” Shane mused. “But that's just a guess mind you. I wish I knew for sure.”
“I wish some idiot would get eaten over there and they'd wake up.”
“I wish we all woke up from this nightmare,” the woman said fighting tears. Derrick reached out and hugged her gently.
“Sh... Shannon, we'll do what we can,” he murmured and kissed her hair. She nodded.
“We'll do what we can. If they can't help, we'll help each other,” Shane said with a firm nod.
...*...*...*...*...
“Did we get anything of value out of it?” Wayne asked as Shane came over. He nodded to the others as they loaded up. Wayne fell into step with him.
“This from the deputy sheriff?” Shane asked amused.
“You know what I mean,” Wayne said. After the past couple of days it had sunk in that they were on their own and what they could scavenge was all they had. He didn't even want to think about when that ended and they were forced to find things with other more forceful methods.
“We're not giving much up. Stuff we can replace easily mostly. Most of what they want we don't have, or can't spare. They did put some feelers out and I'll see if we can't spring something even if its as a good will gesture. Or at least to tide them over and keep them alive until they start to think beyond their own needs and start...” he shrugged.
“Start looking beyond their noses you mean?” Wayne asked. “People are scared.”
“People are people. I can't blame them for being scared. But they have to think, they need to plan, and they need to act,” Shane frowned. Barry and his crew had gone right back inside when the mall crew had exited the warehouse perimeter. They hadn't even set anything up on the roads. He was a little disappointed, but not really surprised.
“I gave them advice. They can take it or leave it. That's about all I or any of us can do right now. Advise and give them a plan of action. I can ask Bob to come over and help them with their defenses. I don't know if its worth it yet.”
“Why bother then?” Wayne asked.
“Because we need allies. We need people to stay alive. To help take back the area. To fight. To fight, to grow food, to build shit, to do the shit we can't or won’t do,” Shane said waving an arm.
“Right,” Wayne said eying him. “They won’t see it that way.”
“Not at first. They'll think they are getting the short end of the stick, which they are. We do have to look out for number one just like they do.”
“Fun, at least they’re not shooting at us.”
“Yet. I did get Barry to agree to take our people in if they are in need of help. Especially of medical help. I told him we'll compensate them for anything they use. I agreed to take their wounded in as compensation.”
“Great.”
“We need to figure out something else to give them. Something to remind them they are on our side.”
“Well, we can haul some of the wrecks over here that we can't use. It'll make it easier to clear the roads,” Wayne mused. There were a lot of cars and trucks clogging the roads, something that was going to have to be handled if they wanted to get from A to B. “Maybe dump some stuff we don't want or can't use too. Extra tools or stuff. Give them plans for weapons and stuff that they can make on their own. Intel too.”
“True. That car idea is a good one. I was thinking of just moving them to fields, but this works too. At least in this area. They can take what they need and flip them for wall material. They put in for construction equipment. Some guy's got it into his head to turn their forklifts into mini tanks. I think, hell I hope he wasn't serious.”
“Probably not,” Wayne said with a snort.
“I'd love to see one the first time it went up against a Hellcat.” He had an image of the thing running at a Hellcat like a jousting knight. Not a good thought actually.
“We haven't even seen how big the damn things get. Are they going to stop growing anytime soon?” Wayne asked plaintively. He looked up at the sun. Damn near noon.
“Let's hope so. I'm of mixed feelings about it though,” Shane mused.
“Oh?” Wayne asked.
“When they stop growing they're one step closer to breeding,” Shane pointed out. He winced. Some of the herbivores were already doing just that. Hell, they could be doing both, packing on the pounds and pumping out babies.
“Now there's a gloomy thought,” the deputy muttered.
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
...*...*...*...*...
“Sir um...” he looked up at the new voice. It was a bit loud in the food court, but he felt like someone was trying to talk to him. He looked around and nodded to a woman behind him.
“May I?” she asked, indicating the seat on the other side of Jen. He looked at his wife who hid a smile.
“Um, sure,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said taking the seat. “I'm Irma. Irma Thorton. I'm, well, I heard you are in charge.”
He nodded as Jen dabbed at her mouth with a cloth napkin. He followed suit. “I am,” he said, wondering where this was going. He shook her hand gently. “O'Neill, Shane O'Neill. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh, good, so they did get it right.” She smiled as she set her tray down and pulled out a battered tablet. The girl was in her twenties, mousy, with brown hair that was held up by a pencil. She had a battered gray UCR sweat shirt on and jeans. She was thin, incredibly thin with a pert nose and wide soulful eyes.
“Um...”
“Sorry. Its well, I'm a blogger. I...”
“Ah, a reporter.” He shot Jen a mixed look of pain and patience. She hid another smile.
“Well, no I mean, I wrote reviews and did stuff for the papers and news but really, most of th
at was editing or research.”
“Okay. Still a reporter. How can I help you?” he asked.
“Well... I well, I was hoping for an interview.”
“So definitely a reporter,” he smiled. Jen chuckled at Irma's expression. The girl picked at her glasses and sighed. He cocked his head. “Sure. When do you want to set it up? I'm going back in the field tomorrow morning.”
“Um... Now if it's okay, I won’t take too long honest.”
He felt a kick under the table. He looked at his wife who nodded meaningfully. He sighed. “Okay,” he said. What he really wanted was some undisturbed time with his wife and kids before he hit the sack. Clearly Jen had other ideas.
“Thanks,” Irma said with a smile. “About the field um...”
“What about it?” he asked, popping a chip into his mouth.
“Um, if you're in charge shouldn't you be here?” she asked.
“No, not all the time.”
“But...”
“It’s called delegation. I'm in charge but I've got people, good people like my wife Jen here who oversee things. My job is to point the way. To figure out the next step or the step beyond that while they execute the plans for here and now.”
She blinked. “Oh. I've heard um, I've heard that before.” She wrinkled her nose. “I think.”
“It's the mantra for noncoms and officers in the military. The chain of command in a nut shell.” He pointed to the servers. “See each of them is doing their job. And they've got managers to make sure they do their job efficiently. Those managers’ report to others or directly to Jen or Jayne.”
“Okay...”
“Who then bring up any problems during the council sessions.”
“The council.” Irma nodded making a note. “You, so you have a council?”
“Of course. Each department head is a member. We meet every morning or evening depending on the schedule.”
“Oh.”
“There we hash out problems, brief each other on progress, and generally try to stay on the same page.”
“Oh.”
“Take for instance Bob. Bob is a contractor, and a damn good one. He's the guy in charge of fixing this place up and building the defenses.”